While trying to get caught up on old reading material I came
across a book review that I thought needed answering. It is in the
June 1983 issue of your journal, and is the review of
The Translation
Debate.
There is really no place I can fault the reviewer, I agree with
almost all his points, however he leaves the feeling that much Bible
translation work is poorly done, perhaps worthless. On a scholarly
level perhaps it may be imperfect, but on a practical level it can be
very satisfactory.

Often the choice is between giving the people a less than perfect
translation and giving them no translation, or perhaps letting them
wait for 20 or more years for a translation. Then again perfection is a
relative thing, else why the great number of English translations.
Not that I am arguing for poor translations, the translator should do
the best he can and use the best materials he can handle, but just
because he is not fluent in Greek and Hebrew doesn't mean he can
not make a translation by which tribal people can understand God's
message to men. Given the choice of a translator who only knows
English (or Spanish?) but knows the tribal language and culture
well, and a Greek scholar who has a superficial knowledge of the
tribal situation, I would choose the former. If we can find God in the
English Bible, then it provides a suitable, if not ideal, basis for a
translation. After all, people even found God in the King James
edition!

I am reminded of the time we needed electricity during the day
time in the Philippines. We were told that we needed a battery
charger, a 'deep charge' storage battery and an inverter. The 'deep
charge' battery is made for drawing much of the current out and
then replacing it, in contrast to a normal car battery which usually is
only superficially discharged and then immediately recharged. We
couldn't get a 'deep charge' battery in the Philippines so went ahead
anyway and used a jeep battery for 2 or 3 years, quite satisfactorily.
And at the end of that time the battery was still performing its
function. No doubt the 'deep charge' battery is better, but for us it
was better to use what we could get than not to have electricity.

By the way, there is also an index to Brown, Driver and Briggs, A
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament.
It was compiled
by Bruce Einspahr and offers the translator of the O.T. the same
help that Alsop's index does for the New Testament.